Headline roundups published weekdays. Beacon clippings published Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays. Weekly original article ☆ published Wednesdays. American classics published on Thursdays. Other clippings, quotes & updates published irregularly on weekdays as time and circumstances permit.

One reason that some pagans tolerate me at all is because my biggest ongoing argument with conservative Christians is some version of "Your religion doesn't control what other people do." Not what they wear, not who they live with, not what they eat, not what happens in the bedroom, not what they read, not how they do it, and not who they do it with.

??Personally I'd be willing to live and let live with Christians. But that works two ways. If my beliefs don't control the actions and beliefs of monotheists, then theirs don't control mine. That means that the law must treat every faith (and even no faith) equally. Neither help nor hinder. No special consideration or privilege. But at the same time, some Christians act as if their religion must be raised above all others, even by those who do not practice it. Freedom of religion does not mean putting Christianity first. It means choice, even if that choice is one you do not agree with.??

— NeoWayland

I love throwing that quote of mine at them, it frustrates them to no end. It's even more fun watching them try to justify why Christianity must be above all others.??

NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.

??The first and most important "women's right" is the right to vote. Then comes the right to earn, to keep what is earned, and to hold property. Free speech and the rest listed in the Bill of Rights come next. Reproductive "rights" don't even make the top ten. Especially since the last time I checked, sex is supposed to be a consensual activity.??

??Technically I'm a mutt. My mother's family is from the Louisiana and Tennessee. I don't know enough about my biological father to say what his ancestry was. And I will say it again, racial justice imposed from above is not freedom. It's privilege. The major civil rights act was passed 54 years ago. That's nearly three generations. And yet to hear people like you tell it, we're just as bad as we ever were and are on the edge of a racial apocalypse that will happen the next time a "white" person says no to a "black" person.??

??If you don't have the right to walk away from any organization, it is not freedom. Meanwhile, there's always the option of finding another job. If there are no other jobs, then chances are that's a government sanctioned monopoly. There are plenty of other ways to protect worker rights, many which work better than unions. ESOPs are one example.??

““He.” “She.” “They.” Have you ever given a moment’s thought to your everyday use of these pronouns? It has probably never occurred to you that those words could be misused. Or that doing so could cost you your business or your job – or even your freedom. Journalist Abigail Shrier explains how this happened and why it's become a major free speech issue.”

It grew out of the jazz age and into the Las Vegas and West Coast aesthetic personified by Hefner, Sinatra, and Bruce. It was always about pushing the envelope with just a touch of rebellion. It was always about the show over substance and the deeds better left unmentioned.??

“A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”

““A sad irony is that the Russiagate narrative, which so many people clung to in an attempt to bring down Trump, only helped him. Actual occurrences that could have undermined Trump’s authority and damaged his reputation were ignored as much of the media and political class focused almost exclusively on a literal conspiracy theory that does not resonate with the voter base that stayed home on Election Day or the Obama-to-Trump voters. Surely, Trump has done awful things, coverage of which could get out the vote and galvanize opposition. But the Russiagate obsession perpetuated Trump’s narrative about being picked-on by a media that peddles fake news and a political elite that represents the status quo. Trump was able to come off, once again, as the outsider who takes on the establishment, which in turn persecutes him. And now that the Mueller report has said he didn’t collude with Russia, he’s celebrating.””— Katie Halper

??People are looking for something, and some of them are not finding it in churches. Some are, but there never was a one-size-fits-all solution. Competition keeps us honest. It works for peanut butter, smart phones, and politics.

??The perception and focus of the Democrat party is that there are groups who have been disenfranchised by society at large and that it is time to "get theirs." It's not about rights, it's about the politics of victimhood. Interests aren't addressed, certainly not in a larger context of all rights for all people. It's about slights and injustices, even if those have to be manufactured.

Say what you want about Republicans (and I often say a lot), at least they don't define rights in terms of politically approved sub-groups to exploit victimhood and the divisions between people.??

““It's not necessary—and certainly not helpful to public discourse—to take a gratuitous swipe at the other side almost every time you share your political perspective. Maybe your view isn't that great if it can't stand on its own.””